Cartoon Wasteland

Post-Thinner Disaster map from the Japanese website, containing all the locations from the first Epic Mickey Game.

The Cartoon Wasteland (abbreviated as the Wasteland) is the world in which Epic Mickey takes place. It is home to forgotten characters such as Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, the Mad Doctor and the Gremlin Gus. The locations in the Cartoon Wasteland are based on various retired or rejected theme park rides, as well as old Disney memorabilia. Oswald the Lucky Rabbit was the ruler, however, the Shadow Blot usurped power from Oswald, and ruled as a tyrant with an iron fist.

Contents

History

Creation of the Wasteland

A long time ago, the sorcerer Yen Sid began to work on "his latest and greatest creation," a paradise where Disney's forgotten, rejected and abandoned ideas and creations could live happily. Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, being the first inhabitant of this new world and Disney's first great creation, took the role as the leader, along with his beloved Ortensia as his consort. As more creations appeared - both forgotten cartoon characters and discarded ideas from Disney's theme parks - Oswald took steps to make sure the world was a beautiful and pleasant place to live. He accomplished this with the help of the Mad Doctor and his Beetleworx, as well as the dozens of gremlins with their technical knowhow.

Thinner Disaster

While Oswald and the forgotten Toons worked from the inside, Yen Sid provided help from the outside with the aid of his magic Paintbrush. However, shortly after the sorcerer added his "finishing touches" to his world, Mickey Mouse inadvertently wandered into his workshop and played with the brush, accidentally spilling large amounts of thinner into Wasteland. He likewise unleashed the Shadow Blot on the world, and unknowingly doomed all the characters that inhabit it.

The catastrophic thinner spill caused much of the world to become damaged, polluted and warped. The area known as Wonderland was completely wiped out, being at the epicenter of the thinner spill. The oceans became corrosive to cartoon matter, rising up to swallow some areas beneath the waves (such as Disney Gulch), and the pathways between the many lands were destroyed. What had once been a marvelous haven was now a Wasteland.

No sooner had the thinner spill passed than the Shadow Blot began to terrorize Wasteland. An epic battle for the fate of the Wasteland commenced, fought between Oswald and the Shadow Blot. Most of the Toons sided with Oswald, but the Blot generated armies of Blotlings to be its footmen.

Sometime late in the war, the Mad Doctor defected to side with the Shadow Blot, and lent his Beetleworx to the Blot's agenda. None were quite certain why the Mad Doctor changed allegiances, but it turned things against the inhabitants of Wasteland.

Sealing the Blot

Inevitably, the Shadow Blot's reign over the Wasteland began, and the already warped world became even more nightmarish. Driven to the brink of defeat, Oswald and Ortensia made a last-ditch effort to stop the Blot. Confronting the monster on Mickeyjunk Mountain, they apparently succeed in sealing the Blot inside a large jug - in truth the bottle of Thinner that Mickey spilled on Wasteland - but the Blot manages to steal Ortensia's paint, leaving her lifeless.

Epilogue

With Ortensia as an inert statue, and a second-in-command the Blot made before getting bottled up roaming free, Oswald exiled himself to a fortress on Mickeyjunk to make sure the Blot wouldn't escape. Since then, Oswald has been forced to contend with the Blot's cronies, who seek to free their master, and the Mad Doctor's Beetleworx.

Mickey's Arrival

Sometime after his mistake, Mickey was pulled through the mirror by the Shadow blot and into the Wasteland. There, Mickey found himself strapped to an operating table where the Mad Doctor attempted to extract his heart. Though the mouse managed to break free, Oswald's attempt to shut down the mechanical arm only ended up making the device go haywire. After the machine was defeated, Gremin Gus appeared to Mickey and told him about the paintbrush. Mickey soon found that he had absorbed some of the Blot.

Mickey finally met up with Oswald in the fortress on Mickeyjunk Mountain. He decided to own up, telling Oswald he was responsible for the Thinner Disaster, which made Oswald even more incensed. Getting ready to fight, Oswald ended up cracking the cork and released the Shadow Blot. The Blot stole Mickey's heart and gained even more power than before, intent on claiming Wasteland.

Final Face-Off

Working through each of the different regions of Wasteland, Mickey managed to beat the Bloticles infesting the areas. Using the rocket from Tomorrow City, Oswald, Mickey and Gus attempted to reach the stolen heart. But the Blot interfered and drained the paint from the rocket, causing it to crash-land in Dark Beauty Castle.

Through his best efforts, Mickey fought his way through the castle's towers, all the while fending off continuous attacks from the Blot. In a desperate attempt, Mickey leapt inside the Blot and battled it from within. Mickey defeated the Bloticles holding his heart captive, and after it was returned, Oswald ignited a bunch of Fireworks, destroying the Blot. Paint began to rain from the sky, restoring the Wasteland to its former glory, and at the same time, revived Ortensia.

The Return of the Mad Doctor

Quakes

When Earthquakes began spreading throughout Wasteland, the Mad Doctor returned, claiming to have reformed and that he wanted to stop the Blotworx from destroying Wasteland. Oswald was willing to give him another chance, but Ortensia and Gus, not trusting the doctor, called Mickey to come back to Wasteland to get to the bottom of things.

Geography

Mickey looking at Wasteland.

The Wasteland is based on the Disneyland theme park. It is separated into three Sections: Hub Worlds, Mission Worlds, and Travel Worlds. It also includes a train system that is accessible in Epic Mickey 2.

Hub Worlds - A Hub World is an area of Wasteland where Mickey can accept Missions, and talk with Non-Player Characters. They are designed after sections of various Walt Disney Theme Parks.

Travel Worlds - Little areas that connect Hub Worlds to Action Worlds, and vice-versa. Mickey is required to pass through these in order to reach a different Location. They are modeled after old Disney Cartoons.

Clock Cleaners (linking Gremlin Village to Village Tower/Gremlin Village to European Boat Ride [secret route])

Trivia

In the opening sequence of the game (the attract video), there are locations on the map of Wasteland that are never seen in the actual game; these were most likely removed from the final version, or completely destroyed by the thinner disaster. Some, however, do get a description under the Wasteland map in the Epic Mickey app.

According to Warren Spector in an interview with Nintendo Power, a Cartoon character doesn't realize that they are cartoons made for people in the real world to watch until they enter the Wasteland. And even then their grasp on the Real World that we inhabit isn't strong. This is why there are references to Disney animators and media in the game. However there is one apparent contradiction to this: in the introduction to Epic Mickey, Mickey can be seen accepting an award. However, it is possible that the characters are aware of the cartoons they star in but not that they are made for the inhabitants of the real world.

In Epic Mickey: The Graphic Novel, it is revealed that the waste that makes up the Cartoon Wasteland is brought from the Disney Theme Parks by Yen Sid's magic, explaining the alleged neatness of the parks.

Wasteland was originally going to be a world of "trash" that is literally in a garbage dumpster behind the Sleeping Beauty Castle in California's Disneyland. The concept art showed it as a steampunk post-apocalyptic world.

An earlier look would've had Wasteland be similar to Mount Purgatory from Dante's Inferno; with Mickey descending to meet the other characters.

The name 'Wasteland' is simply 'Walt Disney Land' with some letters removed or rearranged.

Yen Sid also appears in the Disneyland show Mickey and the Magical Map.

Of the various Disneyland "Lands", Fantasyland is the least touched upon in the Epic Mickey games.